Ativan is the brand name for Lorazepam, an anti-anxiety
agent. Ativan is a benzodiazepine and mild tranquilizer, sedative, and central
nervous system (CNS) depressant. Ativan is very addictive. Ativan can cause
psychological and physical addiction. Individuals
develop an addiction to Ativan because it produces feelings of well-being. Once
an individual has developed an addiction to Ativan they will often get multiple
prescriptions from different doctors to support their addiction. Ativan activates
the brains reward systems. The promise of reward is very intense, causing
the individual to crave more Ativan and to focus his or her activities around
taking the drug. The ability of Ativan to strongly activate brain reward mechanisms
and its ability to chemically alter the normal functioning of these systems
is what produces an addiction to Ativan. Ativan also reduce a persons
level of consciousness, harming the ability to think or be fully aware of present
surroundings.

Withdrawal symptoms, similar
in character to those noted with barbiturates and alcohol have occurred following
abrupt discontinuance of Ativan. The more severe withdrawal symptoms have usually
been limited to those patients who received excessive doses over an extended
period of time.